Though the first edition of Atalantis.
A Story of the Sea (1832) was well received by reviewers both North
and South, it had only one printing. The
limited print run of just 500 copies meant that relatively few readers could
enjoy the many “uncommonly strong and vigorous passages” that comprised William
Gilmore Simms’s fanciful tale.[1] Simms was early convinced that a larger
readership existed and that Atalantis offered
him an opportunity to increase his reputation in both the Northern states and
Europe. In 1837 he wrote to James
Lawson, one of his best friends ...